Shubman Gill's Test Captaincy appointment blasted!! Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant given preference

Shubman Gill has been appointed as the new skipper of the Indian Test team. Virender Sehwag called Gill the third-best option for the captaincy after Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant.

In a cricket segment, Virender Sehwag and Manoj Tiwary were seen trolling Shubman Gill as both called him the second-best and third-best option for the Indian Test skipper, respectively.

Shubman Gill named as the third-best option

In a Cricbuzz video, it all started with Manoj Tiwary questioning selectors as to how they can make someone a skipper who doesn’t fit in the playing XI.

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After that, Tiwary mocked selectors by stating how they can pick Shubman Gill, who is the second-best option for captaincy in the team after Bumrah.

“He was the second-best option. But how can someone who doesn't even fit in the Playing XI be made captain? So I feel the logic here was that they looked at who the second-best option was, and that was Shubman Gill, and that is how it happened,” Manoj Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag agreed with Tiwary’s statement as he also wanted Jasprit Bumrah to become the next Test skipper of the Indian team.

However, Sehwag degraded Gill more than Tiwary, as Sehwag called Gill the third-best option for the responsibility. According to Sehwag, Rishabh Pant is the second-best option after Bumrah in the Test team.

“For a series, Bumrah is okay. But as a long-term option, you need to ask if India play 10 Tests in a year, will he be able to play all those matches? Or, how many matches can he play? That is a major factor in picking a captain. So that I feel was the right decision, because they felt they could not put that pressure and load on Bumrah. Tiwary said Gill is the second-best, but I feel that is Rishabh Pant, and Gill is the third-best,” Sehwag stated.

Virender Sehwag heaps praise on Rishabh Pant

Sehwag has been a fan of Rishabh Pant and stated that what Pant has done for Test cricket after Virat Kohli, no Indian player has done. After Kohli, it was Pant, who pulled out the crowd in the red-ball format.

Sehwag also backed Pant to captain the India team someday. Pant’s form will be a major thing in his Test career, as his recent form is not up to the mark.

“What Pant did for Test cricket, no other player has done. After Virat Kohli, if there is one player who has compelled fans into watching Test cricket, it's Pant."

"But because he had that accident, got injured, and then came back, he did not have that much of an impact, and hence he was made the vice-captain, thinking that if he could bounce back to form, they could take that decision of making him the captain in the future,” Sehwag added.

Can Rishabh Pant bounce back in Test cricket?

Rishabh Pant’s IPL 2025 journey was not good at all, and his team, Lucknow Super Giants, was also knocked out of the tournament.

But now Pant will move to his favorite format and will be looking to make a solid comeback in the white jersey. Pant has been appointed as the deputy of Shubman Gill in the Indian Test team.

Read also: Shreyas Iyer's aggression cost him his place to Karun Nair in India Test squad vs England- Report